We really love Lisbon, so we are biased to talk about, but it is such an interesting city that even without spending a penny you can have a numerous options for unforgettable tours. See below some of our favorites:
Museums
It is not every day, but if you are lucky enough to be in Lisbon on a Sunday, you will have one of the most interesting museums in the city to enter for free. If it’s the first Sunday of the month, raise your hands up to the sky, there are more than a dozen of them to choose from!
See the list:
Museum of Popular Art, Chiado National Museum of Contemporary Art, National Car Museum, National Archaeological Museum, Music Museum; National Tile Museum; Museum of the Navy; National Museum of Ancient Art; Jerónimos Monastery; National Museum of Theater and Dance; National Museum of Ethnology; Bordalo Pinheiro Museum; Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (every Sunday); Museum of the Marionette (Sunday mornings).
Panoramic
It’s an eccentric option. If you like adventures and different things (and you are by car), it is well worth it. This is a kind of abandoned panoramic restaurant on top of Monsanto Park, inside the forest. Nowadays the City Council takes care of the place, and is open to visits (free). The view is magnificent and the place guarantees an atmosphere of suspense and imagination.
More information here
Bicycle tour
Do you kike cycling? Then get the train and go to Cascais. There, the town hall offers free bicycles for leisurely strolls throughout the day. Next to the train station there is a bicycle station to catch yours. You just have to leave a photo ID and sign a compromise. It runs every day from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Arrive early to guarantee your bicycle. We recommend a stroll along the watefront to Guincho beach for those who are accustomed to riding a bicycle.
More information here
Free Walking Tours
For those unfamiliar with the concept, free walking tours are a free tourism mode where an experienced local guide walks from a central point of the city at a previously agreed time, with those who are there for a guided tour of points of interest City.
Besides meeting people, you will discover stories and special places of the city, and the best: it’s all free! Of course, the guides accept and invite everyone who has enjoyed the experience to contribute some value. But it is optional and value is you choosing.
Here are some companies that offer the service:
Wild Walkers Tours, Lisbon Free Tour
World’s oldest bookshop
Did you know that the oldest bookstore in the world is in Lisbon? Open since 1732, in the tourist heart of the city, more precisely in Rua Garrett, Chiado. It opens every day. You can just visit, take some photos and maybe some souvenirs (these are already paid;))
More information here
Street art
Here’s another curiosity: Lisbon is one of the largest open galleries of urban art in the world. With dozens of panels of the greatest urban art artists scattered across facades of buildings across the city.
If you like this type of art, visit this website, choose your favorites, plan your script and have fun exploring these works of art outdoors.
More informationhere
Take photo with one of the greatest personalities in Portuguese history
Fernando Pessoa is the most universal Portuguese poet, and certainly one of the three most famous personalities in the country’s history. Enjoy your very well preserved statue to take a picture sitting on a bronze chair next to the poet.
It is next to the metro station of Baixa-Chiado, in front of a traditional coffee shop in the city, where you can enjoy a beer or a coffee, for example.
Estufa fria
The “Estufa Fria” of Lisbon is one of the most important green spaces in the city. With a collection of hundreds of different plant species from all over the world, it is an authentic living museum where you will find a bucolic and varied atmosphere, with plants ranging from tropical palms to cacti, lakes, waterfalls, sculptures and a peace almost impossible to believe, taking into account that it is located in the center of Lisbon, almost hidden, inside the Eduardo VII Park.
On Sundays and holidays, until 2 pm, the entrance to the Fria de Lisboa Greenhouse is free for all.
More information here
